'20 NE WR Xavier Watts (Notre Dame Man)

greyhammer90

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I don't know why ya'll always hatin' on Jac. Nepotism? Probably. I don't think he's that bad, and he's an alumni.

Nepotism is why he got the job, we hate on him because he's no better than an ESPN noon crew and they thought he could just slide in after Tirico.
 

zelezo vlk

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Nepotism is why he got the job, we hate on him because he's no better than an ESPN noon crew and they thought he could just slide in after Tirico.
The fact that he got fired and Jason Garrett is allowed to keep his job merely because he's still continuing that anecdote from the BYU game about meeting Jayson Ademilola is crazy to me
 

ulukinatme

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Nepotism is why he got the job, we hate on him because he's no better than an ESPN noon crew and they thought he could just slide in after Tirico.
It was never going to get better than Tirico, that man is presently one of the best in the booth. As far as play by play guys go, there are worse out there than Jac, that's my point. He was at least ND alum too, which fans were always lamenting we didn't have any former ND guys broadcasting for NBC. Nepotism aside, I think he could have gotten a broadcasting job on his own merit, but maybe not the ND job right away.

Then again...there are a lot of times NBC seems to treat it like a junior varsity position instead of something top of the line.
 

Irish4life

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I don't care about any of that. I can't stand his dad's voice and was shocked to find his kid's voice almost identical, only somehow worse.
This message out of context in this thread threw me for a loop for a sec lmao
 

arrowryan

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Hamilton was great and enjoyed watching him at ND but let's just say there were a couple moments while he was at ND where he put himself before the school and should prevent him from getting Notre Dame man. Just my opinion.

Agreed
 

pumpdog20

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Hamilton was great and enjoyed watching him at ND but let's just say there were a couple moments while he was at ND where he put himself before the school and should prevent him from getting Notre Dame man. Just my opinion.
Finally someone has said it.
 

Cackalacky2.0

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Hamilton was great and enjoyed watching him at ND but let's just say there were a couple moments while he was at ND where he put himself before the school and should prevent him from getting Notre Dame man. Just my opinion.
What I will never get is why people judge and permanently brand these young adults in making a business decision that will affect the rest of their life (and family adjacent's lives) with generational wealth, when in any other marketplace setting, the same decision would be lauded and deemed proper. Even before they were getting NIL, these people had to assess the risk and weigh it against their long term goals in life.

After Jaylon went down in the game does anyone fault Bosa for immediately and intentionally getting kicked out of the game for targeting? No. And in before anyone else says it, Jaylon was a unicorn athelte and was lucky to get the deal he got from the Cowboys and was allowed to rehab for over a year but even with all the effort and rehab, he never recovered but managed to make a decent carrear in the end. That is the exception not the rule to football injuries and lack of physical performance/fitness and longterm employment in football.

By all accounts, Kyle was a model student and model athlete and I dont recall any trouble out of him. He made a business decision to protect himself and his future. I will never fault anyone for protecting their future including when that future relies so heavily on peak athletic performance and the narrowest of opportunities to get there. There is only one NFL. There is only one true way to get to the NFL and to succeed physical health is the top priority. Protecting one's assets and investments is always smart, except when it comes to college footplayers and securing their footballing future that will financially change their lives forever.
 
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arrowryan

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What I will never get is why people judge and permanently brand these young adults in making a business decision that will affect the rest of their life (and family adjacent's lives) with generational wealth, when in any other marketplace setting, the same decision would be lauded and deemed proper. Even before they were getting NIL, these people had to assess the risk and weigh it against their long term goals in life.

After Jaylon went down in the game does anyone fault Bosa for immediately and intentionally getting kicked out of the game for targeting? No. And in before anyone else says it, Jaylon was a unicorn athelte and was lucky to get the deal he got from the Cowboys and was allowed to rehab for over a year but even with all the effort and rehab, he never recovered but managed to make a decent carrear in the end. That is the exception not the rule to football injuries and lack of physical performance/fitness and longterm employment in football.

By all accounts, Kyle was a model student and model athlete and I dont recall any trouble out of him. He made a business decision to protect himself and his future. I will never fault anyone for protecting their future including when that future relies so heavily on peak athletic performance and the narrowest of opportunities to get there. There is only one NFL. There is only one true way to get to the NFL and to succeed physical health is the top priority. Protecting one's assets and investments is always smart, except when it comes to college footplayers and securing their footballing future that will financially change their lives forever.


Comparing Jaylon’s injury to Kyle’s *almost* injury is comparing apple’s to oranges.

No one is calling Hamilton a bad person, but he absolutely called it quits after he almost got hurt. While the odds weren’t great, it was still possible for Notre Dame to make the playoffs when Hamilton basically quit.

He was great at Notre Dame, no one can deny that. But X Watts is the more decorated player and is/should be highly respected by everyone for staying the course at ND.
 

Cackalacky2.0

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Comparing Jaylon’s injury to Kyle’s *almost* injury is comparing apple’s to oranges.

No one is calling Hamilton a bad person, but he absolutely called it quits after he almost got hurt. While the odds weren’t great, it was still possible for Notre Dame to make the playoffs when Hamilton basically quit.

He was great at Notre Dame, no one can deny that. But X Watts is the more decorated player and is/should be highly respected by everyone for staying the course at ND.
Im not comparing injuries. Kyle protected himself. Thats it. I will never blame him for prtecting his future.
 

zelezo vlk

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What even is a pinched fat cap and has anyone ever heard of another player suffering one?
 

Irish#1

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Tom Schoen was a pretty good safety in the 60's, consensus All-America and I think led the nation in INTs one year. He spent 2 years in the Army out of ND, never did much in the pros after that. And of course back in the 2-way days, Johnny Lujack was a safety on defense, and he won the Heisman.
Thanks for reminding us. Schoen played for Ara. Was a QB his first two years then converted to safety for his junior and senior years. Making AA shows you what an athlete he was. Passed away in 23. RIP Tom. What can I say about Lujack that everyone doesn't already know!

Zibby might be the most fearless of all the safeties. Imagine if Hayseed had played safety all the time and not get bounced back and forth. Hamilton reminded me of Burris in how smart he played the game. Watts seems to be a cross between Zibby and Burris/Hamilton.
 
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IA4irish

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This thread is a really interesting narrative on Watts’s career. Talented wr recruit, struggled to make much traction initially, bounced back and forth between offense and defense, initially looked talented but kind of lost on defense. We were all afraid he was going to transfer, and no one could’ve blamed him if he did. Now he will be a two-time all-American, team captain, and ND legend. It’s absolutely incredible. He is absolutely one of my favorite players of the past 25 years
 

Kingbish01

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This thread is a really interesting narrative on Watts’s career. Talented wr recruit, struggled to make much traction initially, bounced back and forth between offense and defense, initially looked talented but kind of lost on defense. We were all afraid he was going to transfer, and no one could’ve blamed him if he did. Now he will be a two-time all-American, team captain, and ND legend. It’s absolutely incredible. He is absolutely one of my favorite players of the past 25 years
Agreed! Some people don't let an opportunity slip through their fingers when it's presented to them. X has made my all time ND defensive team for sure! And that's saying a lot when you have players like Harrison, Burris, Zibby and Hamilton.
 

arrowryan

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I was told the team docs had cleared Hamilton to play, but he just chose not to.
 

Irish du Nord

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What's interesting is when I clicked in I stayed on page 1 and noticed that we all probably bitched when X was recruited. 3* and not a great offer list. In short, I may stop worrying about rankings and ratings....Knapp is another that produced better than what we saw on paper.
2020 was a different time for receiver recruiting. I thought Johnson, Watts, and Brunelle would all be catching balls from 5 star Phil. Watts being the explosive slot guy to counter Johnson’s deep threat.

Hindsight’s 20/20 but this prediction doesn’t look with any vision vision
 

zelezo vlk

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It causes pain on the lower patella tendon when moving your knee. Worst case scenario is that it leads to a meniscus tear
There we go that makes sense but I definitely don't recall hearing this at the time. Don't mess with patellas at all. A patella tear as recently as a decade ago was a death sentence for athletes.
 
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